Open Access to Knowledge Fund (OAKFund)

Regarding Funds

We have now spent all the funds for both faculty and graduate student authors. We hope to have new funding available September 2018.

About OAKFund

The Open Access to Knowledge Fund (OAKFund) at Texas A&M University underwrites publication charges for scholarly journal articles, book chapters, and books published in fully Open Access publications.

FY 2017/2018 Funds

Funding ProviderTexas A&M University Libraries and the Vice President for Research

Texas A&M Status Graduate Students

Total Funds $5,000

Funding ProviderOGAPS

PeerJ Memberships

OAKFund also offers a limited number of PeerJ Lifetime Publication Plans. Eligible authors must have an article accepted for publication in PeerJ. Unlike a one-time payment of publication charges, PeerJ membership lasts a lifetime, allowing an author to publish one article per year. Even if eligible authors leave Texas A&M University, future publications accepted in PeerJ will be free of charge.

OAKFund offers authors a Basic Plan, providing one free publication per year in PeerJ. Read more about PeerJ Memberships.

OAKFund Application

Eligibility requires a "Yes" to all 8 questions:

Are you a Texas A&M University Faculty Member, Full-Time Research Staff or Graduate Student? Read more about Author Eligibility.

Is your work a peer-reviewed journal article, book chapter, or book?

Has your work been accepted for publication after September 1, 2016?

Will your work be Open Access immediately upon publication?

Does the publication venue journal or book provide Open Access to all peer-reviewed contributions? Read more about Publication Eligibility.

Applicants will receive notification within 5 – 7 days of submission.If you have additional questions, please contact the Office of Scholarly Communications at: oakfund@library.tamu.edu

Eligibility Details

Author Eligibility

Eligible authors include current members of the Faculty, Full-Time Research Staff, or Graduate Student at Texas A&M University. This includes Faculty assigned to the College Station, Galveston, and Qatar campuses. Members of affiliated State Agencies who hold joint appointments at Texas A&M University are also welcome to apply for funds.

Publication Eligibility

Eligible works include peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and scholarly monographs approved for publication after September 1, 2016.

In order to be eligible, the publication venue must be fully Open Access. The publisher must make their entire publication freely available online; meaning that the publisher distributes all articles in a journal, or chapters in a book, as Open Access. "Hybrid" Open Access publication venues and publication venues with delayed Open Access models are ineligible.

Full Open Access: Eligible. Publishers providing immediate and free online access to all peer-reviewed material they publish.

"Hybrid" Open Access: Ineligible. Publishers charging subscription or access fees for published material unless authors pay to make only their work freely available in the venue. Many consider this practice to be "double-dipping."

Funding Rules

The OAKFund is a limited resource intended to support Open Access publishing across Texas A&M University. Funding for publications that comply with the author and publication eligibility criteria will be distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis according to the funding rules.

Approved funds may only be used to cover publication processing charges. We expect researchers to first request funding for Open Access publication from their funding agencies. For example, the National Institutes of Health, the Wellcome Trust, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute will fund Open Access publication as part of research grants.

If other funding sources are unavailable, we welcome your application to OAKFund.

Funding Caps and Coauthor Distribution

Eligible authors may receive a maximum of $3,000 per fiscal year.

This is a cumulative total, it may be split across multiple applications so long as funds are available.

This is a yearly cap, it applies to the fiscal year in which an application is submitted. In no way does the cap roll over to future years.

Approved applications will receive a maximum payment of $3,000 to support publication of the work.

This cap applies regardless of the number of eligible coauthors.

Payment will be distributed as equally as possible among eligible coauthors, and subtracted from each author's maximum allowance.

Please note, the cap for funding available through the OAKFund does not include membership in PeerJ. Use of PeerJ memberships by eligible faculty or researchers does not diminish eligibility for funding through the OAKFund. Please see Other Author Assistance Programs for information about PeerJ and other opportunities.

OAKFund Goals

The goals of the OAKFund at Texas A&M University are to:

Increase access to Texas A&M research and scholarship

Support and encourage innovative models of scholarly publishing that take advantage of digital and networking technologies

More Information

Questions regarding OAKFund reimbursements should be directed to the University Libraries’ Business Services Office. General questions regarding the scope and rationale for the OAKFund may be emailed to the Office of Scholarly Communications at: oakfund@library.tamu.edu

Additional Resources

Your gifts support the University Libraries as they strive to make positive impacts on the research needs of the Texas A&M community and beyond. You may express your support with a gift or by joining the Friends of Sterling C. Evans Library.